For several months now I have been reading about "three bars" on the temp gauge. Everyone says to wait until three bars on the gauge before VTEC...I agree. Now I am reading that there should never be more that 3-4 bars on the temp gauge. My 04 is five months old and I have always had 8 bars on the temp gauge. I am curious what other MY04 owners gauges show. Thanks

 

I think mine usually shows 6 or 7 when at full operating temp. I'll post again tommorrow and let you know. It is certainly more than 4-4 bars (different style gauge).

 

Great...thanks. That was what I was hoping.

 

If I am not mistaken the 04 temp shows many more bars than pre 04 s2k's. Mine shows about 8 or 9. I would not worry about it

John

 

correct....pre-'04 only had 3 bars (for normal operating temps).....

 

Once completely warmed up, I showed 8 bars the entire way to work this morning! No problems, your gauge/car is perfect.

 

Perfect...thanks guys for the responses!

 

u sound fine thanks for sharing your concern though

 

Eight bars is the highest I have seen - an average drinking night in my wasted youth!

I let it warm up yesterday until the fan cut in, and it never budged. It reinforces what we have said all along - that the factory coolant temp gauge is calibrated not to move over a very wide range of temps - morons (who make up 99.9999% of the world by my estimate), were constantly fretting over this, and according to an automotive insider, the Japanese were the first to agree amongst themselves that they would not have linear temp gauges. My Outback does exactly the same thing - I even left the radiator cap off once and it did not budge even as the coolant was spilling out it!

So when you see it start to move, pull over, shut down, and prop the hopod immediately - by the time it goes into the red, there is real risk of losing a head gasket, or worse.

XViper and others have installed gauhe clusters, and the aftermarket uses linear gauges, so you can see what is really going on.